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Article

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Accepted version

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2018-12

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/164867

Different starting points for early foreign language learning: A comparative study with Danish and Spanish young learners of English

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https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12309

Abstract

This study compared receptive English grammar skills of two groups of 7‐ and 9‐year‐old Danish children at the beginning of second language (L2) instruction in English, and two groups of Spanish/Catalan children of the same age after several years of instruction. The study examined the influence of two language‐related factors (receptive vocabulary skills, cognate linguistic distance) and two context‐related factors (amount of formal instruction, frequency of exposure to English outside school), additionally focusing on the gender variable. Results revealed that the amount of formal instruction had a lesser role in the children's receptive grammar knowledge than cognate linguistic distance and out‐of‐school contact with English (particularly with audiovisual material). These factors may explain why Danish children's receptive knowledge of English prior to school instruction is largely similar to that of Spanish children after several years of instruction, revealing a sharp contrast in their respective starting points for L2 learning.

Subject

Ensenyament de llengües, Adquisició d'una segona llengua, Anglès, Educació primària, Dinamarca, Espanya

Subject (English)

Language teaching, Second language acquisition, English language, Primary education, Denmark, Spain

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Articles publicats en revistes (Llengües i Literatures Modernes i Estudis Anglesos)

Citation

MUÑOZ LAHOZ, Carme, CADIERNO, Teresa and CASAS, Isabel. Different starting points for early foreign language learning: A comparative study with Danish and Spanish young learners of English. Language Learning. 2018. Vol. 68, num. 4, pags. 1076-1109. ISSN 0023-8333. [consulted: 8 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/164867

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